Sydney Safety Personnel

Sydney Safety Training is now a part of the RIS Safety Group

RISSafety

RISSafety is Australia’s leading Height Safety provider, with a national branch infrastructure to meet our client’s needs anywhere within Australia, New Zealand or overseas. With the market place becoming increasingly aware of the need for employee protection when working at heights, RISSafety is ideally positioned to provide local and overseas industries with practical solutions for any height safety, confined space or rope access application.

RISSafety designs, manufactures and distributes an extensive range of tested and standards compliant range of products, including permanent anchor points, horizontal and vertical fall protection systems, aluminium and fiberglass ladders and walkway systems, fall arrest retractable blocks (inertia reels), tripods and winches for confined space, as well as having its own range of standards-approved personal protective equipment (PPE).

Front Office Staff

Bob Taylor –  Ex CEO

Sydney Safety Training was established by Bob Taylor, who spent the first 12 years of his working life as an officer in the Australian Army.  He started his career as a platoon commander in an infantry battalion, before being accepted into Special Forces.   After 3 years in Perth Bob was sent on exchange for 2 years with the US Navy’s SEAL Team in San Diego as their Training Cell Officer. On his return to Australia he was the Adjutant of 1 Commando Regiment.

Upon leaving the Army in 1982 Bob became a principal of a large retail scuba training company in Sydney. Over the past ten years due to market forces he redirected his business from diving to work health and safety.  Sydney Safety Training has now emerged as one of Sydney’s most professional and progressive WHS training companies.

Bob is now responsible for the smooth transition of Sydney Safety Training into the RISSafety family.  There are no real changes at SST, so when visiting we continue on as before., but now we have a greater capability under the ownership of RISSafety.

Luke Downie – Operations Manager

Luke Downie  is the Operations Manager of Sydney Safety Training.   Luke is responsible for all the behind the scenes management  issues that keep the place running smoothly and efficiently.  He is the complaints department, the course booking department, the help me if you can department, also I got a problem department.  Luke was responsible for a large recreational diving centre for the past 28 years.  In that role he developed strong skills in business development, and brings great customer relation skills to this organisation.  If you have a problem with WHS at your workplace, call Luke, as he will help you out.  He is also a keen fisherman, golfer  and cricketer with awonderful family which includes three daughters.  That is why he is loosing his hair.

Lara Field – RTO & Accounts Manager

Lara Field is our Office Manager.  Lara made a huge impact on this company when she arrived in 2014.  She brought us out of the 18th century and into the 21st in all aspects of administration, book keeping and student management.  Administering an RTO is a huge job requiring lots of attention to detail and dedication, Lara has this.  She accepted the challenge of VETtrak, an RTO compliant student management system and now has tamed it.  The way she breezes through MYOB and extracts data at the drop of a hat is always amazing.  Lara is a wonderful administrator and is the go to person for financial queries or student records.

 

Vince Ratcliffe – Service Technician

Vince is our Service Technician.  He is the person responsible for testing and tagging all your safety PPE, calibrating your gas monitors testing breathing systems and generally sorting any safety gear issues that you might have.    Vince is the man you will meet in his little SST van if you need product delivered urgently to site, or you need site inspections of safety gear.  Vince came to us after being an area supervisor for a large cleaning contractor.  Prior to that Vince was the owner/operator of a delivery vehicle across Sydney.  Vince is a qualified dogman and has his high risk crane licence. He is married with four kids and lives in the Penrith area.

 

 

Training Staff

 

Grahame Selleck – Cert IV Trainer & Technical

Grahame Selleck is a Certificate 1V Workplace Trainer and Assessor for confined space and height safety training courses.   He has been actively involved as a trainer since 1997. His training career commenced in the recreational diving industry, where he is a NAUI Instructor Trainer, a PADI Dive Instructor, a TDI Instructor Trainer as well being a DAN O2 and First Aid Instructor.

Grahame has a back ground in motor vehicle engineering, but in the last 10 years he has specialized in the service, maintenance and repair of life support equipment for the recreational diving industry.  Grahame is qualified to inspect and tag height safety equipment,  calibrate gas detection equipment and service self contained breathing apparatus.

Grahame has brought a wealth of knowledge and experience from industry into his role as a work place trainer. His workplace training skills ensure all participants gain the maximum value and enjoyment from the training being presented.

Andrew Baverstock – Cert IV Trainer

Andrew Baverstock  is another  seasoned Cert IV Workplace Trainer.  He has joined SST from a long history in the electrical and packaging industries and teaches confined space entry, safe working at heights and asbestos removal.  Andrew is a very thorough & relaxed trainer who brings a broad range of workplace skills to the training room.  He spent many years with Tetra Pak in customer service, training manager, technical training & a field service engineer.  Prior to Tetra Pak he worked extensively as a electrical trades person for NSW Electricity Commission, Haden Electrical & Magic Door Industries.  So Andrew brings a broad base of industry experience to SST which compliments his training role now with SST.

Gerard Smith – Cert IV Trainer

Gerard Smith joined SST in 2019 as a Cert IV Workplace Trainer.  Gerard originally started his working life as a panel beater, where he practiced his trade for 8 years.   He then took a break from the industry for one year when he completed a level 2 rope access course and worked as a rope access technician.  He returned to the panel trade as a Panel Shop Supervisor in 2010 for a further 4 years.  In 2014 Gerard went back to the rope access industry as a rope access technician, height safety equipment installer & project manager.  He joined Sydney Safety Training in 2019 and has specialised in teaching asbestos removal, safe working at heights and confined space entry.  Gerard has a very easy going nature and gets the best from his students.     

 

Duane French – Cert IV Trainer for Heights

Duane French is a Certificate IV Workplace Trainer and Assessor for height safety training courses.     Duane has been a workplace trainer since 1992  in the building industry.  Duane also is a confined space standby/rescuer,  a royal live saving instructor and PADI Dive Instructor.

Duane is carpenter and joiner, clerk of works, workplace trainer and holds a current builders license. He currently teaches scuba diving most weekends.   Duane’s years of experience in the building industry as a builder and workplace trainer come through in his classes to make him a very passionate and experienced trainer who really gets the best out of his students.  Coming from the building industry he has seen the right and wrong ways of working at heights, and brings that practical knowledge to his  students to take back to the work place.